The
movie version of the famous stage play The
Music Man opened in Detroit on Friday, July 20, 1962, at the Michigan.
It later opened in New York City on August 23, 1962.

"Make way for 'The Music Man,' that grand and glorious
entertainment, now
bigger and better and more beautiful than ever on the wide
screen in color at the Michigan," wrote Al Weitschat in the "Picture
Parade" section of The Detroit News on July 20, 1962. "Meredith
Willson's melodious salute to the good, old days (1912), when gals never
showed their legs and a feller was a devil when he dared to say, 'So's
your old man,' is one of the most enjoyable musicals ever to come out
of Hollywood."

"If you want to see Meredith's Willson's 'The Music
Man' at its finest, go see the movie version which opened Friday at the
Michigan Theater," wrote
Ron Martin in the July 21, 1962 edition of the Detroit Free Press.
"It has all the best moments of the show captured permanently on
film. It has all the kinks which show up from one stage performance to
the next ironed out. And it has even made something of the lesser moments."

The
Music Man played for about two months at the Michigan, until September
19. It started its neighborhood and suburban run on September 20 at the
Warren, Woods, Wyandotte, Jewel, Mercury, and Royal Oak theaters. On that
same day, it also helped open the Terrace theater in Livonia.

Ann
Arbor audiences were treated to the opening of The
Music Man at their Michigan theater on Friday, July 27, 1962.
It played until August 16 before being replaced by Lolita
(James Mason, Shelley Winters, Peter Sellers). It later played at the
Martha Washington in Ypsilanti.